This invention relates to the field of veterinary science, and is in particular a method for reducing the incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia in animals.
The federal government has rights in this invention by virtue of the fact that it partially funded the experimentation which lead to the discovery of this invention.
Tibial dyschondroplasia is a skeletal abnormality which occurs in rapidly growing animals such as broiler chickens or turkeys. The abnormality is characterized by an unmineralized, unvascularized mass of cartilage located in the proximal ends of the tibiotarsus and the tarsusmetatarsus. The cartilage extends from the growth plate into the metaphysis. In fowl, tibial dyschondroplasia usually appears between three and eight weeks of age.
In some chickens and turkeys, the prehypertrophic cartilage persists into adulthood and is restricted to the posterior medial portion of the proximal tibiotarsal bone, and the birds remain clinically normal. An incidence of 10 to 30% of birds with subclinical dyschondroplasia is common in many flocks. In the more severe cases of tibial dyschondroplasia, the abnormal tissue occupies the whole metaphysis of the proximal tibiotarsal bone and also develops in the proximal tarsometatarsal bone. Birds with these more severe lesions may be lame, with bowing of the affected bones. These chickens can have difficulty walking and are prone to falling down, causing injury and decreasing growth rate. The disease also increases the death rate of animals during the growth period. Further, many of the birds suffering from the disease develop breast blisters and leg deformities that result in hemorrhages.
Tibial dyschondroplasia increases the percentage of carcasses downgraded or condemned in processing plants, which results in decreased profits for the processor. When flocks of birds have a high incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia, the crooked legs can interfere with the shackling of the fowl during processing and can actually cause mechanical problems in operating the processing line where the slaughtered fowl are conveyed on machines which handle the birds by their legs. Fowl with tibial dyschondroplasia have insufficient leg strength to be carried in this manner.
A number of studies have been conducted to determine both the cause of dyschondroplasia and a method for treatment or prevention. Leach and Nesheim, "Further Studies on Tibial Dyschondroplasia Cartilage Abnormality in Young Chicks", J. Nutr. 102, 1673 (1972), indicated that the cartilage abnormality is a result of an inherited physiological defect, the expression of which is under dietary control. They were not able to determine the nutritional factors responsible for expression. However, they found that manipulations of the mineral mixture that resulted in changes in acid/base or cation/anion balance in the chick altered the incidence of abnormality. In particular, high chloride level in the diet increased the incidence of the abnormality when chicks were fed diets similar to those used commercially.
Mongin and Sauveur, in "Interrelationship Between Mineral Nutrition, Acid-Based Balance, Growth and Cartilage Abnormalities," Growth and Poultry Meat Production, Borman, K. N. and Wilson, B. J., Eds., pp. 235-247, British Poultry Science Ltd., Edinburgh, Scotland (1977), hypothesized that the metabolic acidosis in chickens fed high dietary chloride levels caused tibial dyschondroplasia because of impaired bone mineralization resulting from alteration of vitamin D metabolism.
Chickens made acidotic by administration of ammonium chloride show reduced conversion of 25(OH)D.sub.3 to 1,25(OH).sub.2 D.sub.3, although the production of 24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (24,25(OH).sub.2 D.sub.3) from 25(OH)D.sub.3 was not consistently affected by acidosis, as also reported by Sauveur and Mongin, in "Influence of Dietary Level of Chloride, Sodium and Potassium on Chick Cartilage Abnormalities," Proceedings of XV World Poultry Congress, pp. 180-181 (1977).
However, supplementation of chickens with 20 ng/day of either 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25(OH).sub.2 D.sub.3) or 24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (24,25(OH).sub.2 D.sub.3) was demonstrated to have no effect on the incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia, as described by Edwards in "Studies on the Etiology of Tibial Dyschondroplasia in Chickens", J. Nutr., 114, 1001 (1984).
Calcium and phosphorus levels in the diet have been found to be major nutritional factors influencing the expression of tibial dyschondroplasia. High calcium in the feed retards the development of the lesion, whereas high phosphorus levels appear to accentuate the development of the lesions, as reported by Edwards and Veltmann, "The Role of Calcium and Phosphorus in the Etiology of Tibial Dyschondroplasia in Young Chicks," J. Nutr., 113, 1568 (1983).
Increases in the magnesium content of the chick diet decrease the incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia; however, the effect of magnesium is not as strong as that of calcium, as demonstrated by Edwards, "Studies on the Etiology of Tibial Dyschondroplasia in Chickens", J. Nutr., 114, 1001 (1984).
Given the large economic loss to meat producers caused by animals afflicted with tibial dyschondroplasia as well as the discomfort of the afflicted animal and the resulting unsanitary conditions caused by the diseased dysfunctional animal, it would be of great benefit to find an effective method and compositions to reduce the incidence of this disease.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and compositions for the treatment and prevention of tibial dyschondroplasia in animals.
It is another object of the present invention to provide compositions which may be administered economically and easily to animals to reduce the incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia.